


Arrival

by autobotscoutriella



Category: Transformers (Bay Movies)
Genre: Autobots appreciating nature, Forests, Gen, Post-Transformers (2007), or not appreciating nature, pre-everything else Bayverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:34:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27728851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/autobotscoutriella/pseuds/autobotscoutriella
Summary: Optimus tracks a mysterious signal into one of Earth's most unusual environments - the forest.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17
Collections: FandomWeekly (2019-2020) Writing Challenge on Dreamwidth





	Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for [FandomWeekly](https://fandomweekly.dreamwidth.org/382546.html) prompt "Into the forest".

Forests, Optimus reflected, were one of Earth's natural features that would take a great deal of getting used to.

The rough dirt road was slightly muddy, slowing his progress and dragging at his tires. Leaves floated down on him from time to time, occasionally sticking to his windows before fluttering down to the road. The trees formed a tunnel overhead, tinting his field of vision ever-so-slightly green.

Cybertron had no comparable environment. It had - or at least, had once had, before the AllSpark was lost - seas, deserts, roads, and caves, but forests were a novelty. The closest thing Optimus could think of was the bridge network between Helex and the Mithril Sea, but that had been open and sprawling, huge silver arches spiraling out to the horizon. The forest was close, almost enclosed, with trees that made even him feel small. It was deeply alien, and even after traveling this route before, the sense of being surrounded by looming organic life unsettled him.

Despite that, it was beautiful in its own way. When he slowed down and listened, he could hear the constant twitter of birds and the rustling of other small animals. Something larger howled in the distance, the sound echoing strangely among the trees. The forest was a swirl of colors - mostly greens and golds and browns, but he caught brief glimpses of red and blue flashes up in the trees as he turned corners.

The road began to angle upward more steeply, winding and switching back on itself. Optimus slowed and pinged a comm line back to Ratchet, hundreds of miles away at the temporary base. ::Can you confirm this road has been blocked off?::

There was a long pause before the response. ::Lennox says yes, in both directions for forty miles.::

That was good. Running into a human vehicle on the narrow, winding road could potentially have been disastrous. At the very least, one of them would have had to go off-road, and that would have been destructive to the forest floor and perhaps to the vehicle as well. A few miles back, he had glimpsed a sign that said NO OFFROAD VEHICLES, and breaking human laws unnecessarily would only make the Autobots' acclimation to Earth that much harder.

The sun had been gradually going down for the last few hours, and his surroundings had finally become noticeably dark. Optimus switched on his headlights, watching small insects flutter out of the way of the shafts of light.

Shadows moved in the trees.

Optimus slowed down further, watching the trees on both sides. The shadows seemed to jump and dance as he rounded a corner - ah, that explained it. It was an odd effect, one that was rarely seen in that particular form on Cybertron. Still, he kept his pace slow. The shadows would make it harder to see animals that might dart out onto the road - or Decepticons, using the forest as cover.

::We've picked up another signal ping, Optimus,:: Ratchet warned. ::You're not on top of it yet. It's at a higher altitude. Lennox has a helicopter circling, but they can't zero in on it.::

::Copy that.:: Optimus checked his own scanners. Nothing showed up on them, but there could be several explanations for that. For starters, the forest seemed to be interfering with his comm lines; Ratchet's message was staticky and garbled.

But a Decepticon would likely have already picked up on the approaching Autobot signal, and wouldn't be waiting up at higher altitudes. Optimus opened a general broadcast comm line and pinged an Autobot signal over it, repeating the code at staggered intervals. His comm line crackled to life again. ::Lennox wants to know if you're trying to contact a 'Con.::

Apparently they had decided that Ratchet would be his point of contact. Optimus sent the signal code again before replying. ::Call it...testing a theory.::

::Is a strange forest, in the middle of the night, really the best place to be testing a theory?::

Optimus could hear the hint of indignation underlying Ratchet's words, and smiled inwardly. ::Maybe not. But indulge me, at least for a few minutes.::

As if on cue, a return ping came back along the open line, loud and clear despite the static that ran along with it. It was followed by an Autobot-specific comm line opening, and a familiar voice broadcasting to Optimus, Ratchet, and most likely Lennox's helicopter as well. ::Prime! Where have you _been?_ I've been wandering this nightmare planet for _days_ trying to track down your original signal!::

::Welcome to Earth, Sideswipe,:: Optimus responded, trying to hide his amusement. Of all the Autobots he could name, Sideswipe was perhaps the least prepared for an environment with the challenges a forest brought. ::Stay where you are and send me your coordinates.:: The coordinates arrived before Optimus had even finished sending the message. ::Stay where you are,:: he repeated, in case that part of the message had gone unheard. ::I'll be there in twenty minutes.::

::Thank _Primus._ Get me out of here.::

Apparently as far as Sideswipe was concerned, alien forests had no mysterious appeal whatsoever.

Optimus sped up slightly, as much as he could on the rough road, and followed Sideswipe's coordinates.


End file.
